Content

Salford City Council - Record of Decision (Cabinet)
 
I
Paul Dennett, City Mayor, in exercise of the powers contained
within the City Council Constitution do hereby approve:
 

A five-year extension to the current
Salford Community Leisure contract, leading to a revised expiry
date of 31st March 2030.

·        
The Executive Director of Place to
delegate responsibility to establish an appropriate contract
extension agreement, with stronger governance arrangements in
consultation with the appropriate Lead Member(s).

 
The
Reasons are:
 
To provide adequate time to
complete and fully review the visioning work recommendations,
produce a detailed implementation plan and implement the necessary
changes to service delivery.
 
Options considered and rejected were:
 

Continue with the current contract to the end of its term
(i.e., 31st March 2025) and start the procurement of a
new long-term contract for circa 10-15 years.
Procure a short-term contract, allowing
time for completion of the Vision and Strategy work. Following
implementation of all aspects of the visioning work SCC would
undertake a second procurement exercise with more firm commercial
terms.
Extend the current contract by 3
years, which would mean a revised
expiry date of 31st March 2028 as opposed to
31st March 2025.

 
Assessment of Risk:
Low
risk
 
The source of funding is:
An annual management fee is paid by SCC to SCL to
cover the delivery of a wide range of services. Details of the
management fee are listed within the Part 2 report for Cabinet to
consider.
 
Legal
Advice obtained: Tony
Hatton (Solicitor – Group Leader) and Lauren Armstrong
(Solicitor), Shared Legal Services
 
Shared Legal Services have been providing ongoing advice and
support to the Council around the options appraisal in relation to
the services currently being delivered by SCL. Legal notes that
there is ongoing vision and strategy work which is anticipated to
be completed in accordance with the timeframes stated above. The
current contract between the Council and SCL expires on
31st March 2025, as such there is a need to take a
decision regarding service delivery in the interim period until the
Council is in a position to undertake one or more procurement
exercises in relation to the services.
 
Any
extension period needs to be proportionate and realistic, but no
longer than is reasonably necessary.
 
Financial Advice obtained:
David R Mills, Strategic Finance Manager
It is recommended
that any extension to the SCL contract should include:
 

1.   
Close monitoring of the short-term
business plan of SCL, together with a recovery plan delivered to
the governance group on a quarterly basis.

2.   
Key Performance Indicators embedded into
the contact extension to gain assurance that the organisation is
meeting the requirements of the council; such KPIs to be agreed by
both parties.
 
That the council officers and officers from SCL
should work together to review costs, income streams and
efficiencies that can be made to support continued provision of a
service that meets the needs of the people of Salford whilst
acknowledging the forecast pressures on the Council
 
Procurement Advice obtained:
Anthony Hilton – Head of Procurement
Regulation 32 of the
Public Contracts Regulations (PCR’s) makes provision for
direct award of a contract, via the negotiated procedure
“where the works, supplies or services can be supplied only
by a particular economic operator” and where
“competition is absent for technical
reasons”.
 
It may be argued
that the complex range of services provided by SCL under the
existing contract are captured within this Regulation, however, the
longer the extension period, the higher the exposure and risk of
challenge.
 
Given the
Council’s current and future budget pressure, it is
imperative that Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) are
embedded into any agreed contact extension to gain assurance that
SCL is meeting the requirements of the council, delivering service
efficiencies and savings to aid the Council budget position and
improving the quality of leisure and associated services to the
residents of Salford. Service improvements and performance levels
must be captured and reported on a regular basis.
 
Procurement
understands the rationale for a proposed extension to the existing
contract, however we are also mindful of the risks associated with
any such extension.
 
HR
Advice obtained:
Not
applicable
 
Climate Change Advice obtained:
Not
applicable
 
The
following documents have been used to assist the decision
process:
The
relevant documents contain exempt or confidential information and
are not available for public inspection

Contact Officer:  Shoaib Mohammad,
Director Infrastructure             
Telephone number: 07500 125759
 
The
appropriate scrutiny to call-in the decision is the Community and
Neighbourhoods Panel   
           

 

 

Signed:
    Paul
Dennett           
                           
Dated:     09.04.24                    
.
           
City Mayor
 

For Democratic
Services use only

 

This decision was
published on  09.04.24                                      
This decision will come in force at 4.00 p.m.  on 16.04.24
unless it is called-in in accordance with the Decision Making
Process Rules